Rolling coverage: SA tightens Vic border, medical device blamed for hotel cluster
Melburnians will be banned from entering South Australia from midnight as the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel cluster grows and more exposure sites emerge.
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Two more new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Victoria with the Holiday Inn outbreak now growing to eight cases.
Victorian health authorities revealed the cases — another worker and a former resident — late on Wednesday afternoon.
The resident left the facility on February 7.
Contact tracing is under way.
The latest exposure sites are:
Commonwealth Bank, Glen Waverley on Feb 9: 1.30pm - 2.30pm
HSBC Bank Glen Waverley on Feb 9: 2.15pm-3.30pm
The health department has listed the two sites as “tier 1” meaning anyone who attended during the days and times listed must isolate for 14 days regardless of their test result.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA SHUTS BORDER TO MELBOURNE
South Australia will tighten its border with Victoria following a virus outbreak at a Melbourne quarantine hotel.
Anyone arriving in South Australia from the greater Melbourne area after midnight on Wednesday will be locked out, SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.
Regional Victorians will not be affected.
Two cases of coronavirus at the Holiday Inn detected on Tuesday forced the closure of the quarantine hotel and prompted a probe into whether a medical device spread the virus.
DEVICE A ‘RED FLAG’ FOR AUTHORITIES
COVID-19 quarantine Victoria commissioner Emma Cassar said the health authorities’ first indicator of a possible “red flag” was on Friday last week when a person in quarantine was found to have a nebuliser — a device that allows a person to inhale medication in the form of mist, in their room.
The commissioner said the device was not picked up by hotel staff because they are not legally allowed to search guests’ luggage without permission.
“We were led to believe there was a nebuliser in a room on level three at the Holiday Inn,” Ms Cassar said.
The discovery of the device in the room belonging to a family of three led to 43 hotel staff entering quarantine on the same day before it was revealed a worker had tested positive.
Ms Cassar said hotel staff were made aware of the contraband medical advice last Friday night.
Nurses are now checking scans of people’s bags to detect aerosol medical devices such as nebulisers and CPAP machines in their property, Ms Cassar said.
“It is the only way we can safely manage these devices not coming through,” she said.
Ms Cassar said hotel quarantine workers are required to undertake mandatory testing when they are at work, and those who did not want to comply were told to find employment elsewhere.
“What we have said is, if you don’t want to commit to this, this isn’t the program for you and there are plenty of other jobs which you can find and we can assist you to find,” she said.
Ms Cassar said test records are audited to ensure staff continue to get tested on the job.
“We have a program with great integrity and safety. This is our role to make sure that we have the highest standards and we expect nothing less of our people.”
“We’ve got this.”
Deputy Chief Health Officer Melanie Van Twest said plans were under way to improve ventilation inside the quarantine hotels after new variants of the virus had emerged in the three months since ventilation assessments were carried out.
“Those variants as we all know now are highly transmissible,” Ms Van Twest said.
“The virus was already highly transmissible, but this has made them worse and more dangerous.”
Ms Van Twest said a new, independent assessor has been brought into the quarantine program to assess the airflow inside each quarantine hotel.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the vaporised virus particles may have hung in the air in the hotel corridor, where Tuesday’s cases — a food and beverage worker and a hotel resident — may have been exposed.
“That makes sense in terms of the geography and it makes sense in terms of the exposure time,” he said.
“So that is a risk and in a sense we need to be acutely aware of the possibility of everyone who was under that floor, in particular, being exposed to that.
“They are all, of course, notified.”
Three people may have been infected via the medical device, including an authorised officer, a hotel resident and food and beverage worker.
Ms Cassar said the resident with the nebuliser had not reported it when arriving at the hotel.
People with nebulisers would typically be sent to a health hotel, she said.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the nebuliser had been used by a hotel quarantine guest who is now “very unwell” and in intensive care in hospital.
“There’s a reason why these machines shouldn’t be used,” Mr Andrews said.
“Let’s not be critical of someone who is in intensive care,” Mr Andrews said.
“And I’m sure, didn’t believe they were doing the wrong thing.”
“This was a personal machine that travels with the person that will be linked, I think, to this underlying condition, whether it’s asthma or something like that.”
QUARANTINE HOTEL SHUT FOR CLEANING
The Holiday Inn at Melbourne Airport has been closed in the wake of positive cases at the quarantine hotel.
A spokesperson for the agency overseeing the quarantine program – COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria – said in a statement on Wednesday morning the hotel was “closed until further notice for terminal cleaning, and with detailed contact tracing and investigations under way”.
“All staff and residents at the hotel during the exposure period of 27 January and 9 February are considered primary close contacts and need to quarantine,” the spokesperson said.
“Approximately 135 staff across all programs at the hotel were stood down last night and instructed to quarantine for 14 days at home and get retested.
“So that we can rule out any potential coronavirus transmission while investigations are continuing, CQV has informed 48 residents at the hotel that they are considered primary close contacts.
“These residents began being transferred to the Pullman Melbourne from 8am this morning to quarantine an extended number of days.”
Forty eight guests were moved out of Holiday Inn on Wednesday morning.
HOLIDAY INN CASES DETAILED
Premier Daniel Andrews said in the recent case involving a hotel quarantine worker, they last worked at the hotel on February 4 and tested negative.
The employee developed symptoms on February 6 and on February 8 were told they were a primary close contact of the previous positive case at the Holiday Inn.
The worker was tested on February 9 and returned a positive result.
That person visited several sites in Sunbury that were released by authorities late on Tuesday (see below).
Thirteen social and community close contacts linked to this case were tested within hours, Mr Andrews said.
Five so far have returned negative results.
Thehotel quarantine resident who tested positive, left the hotel on February 7 and returned a positive result on February 8.
There were no exposure sites linked to this case as they didn’t leave home, Mr Andrews said.
On theauthorised officerwho tested positive on February 7, Mr Andrews said of the eight household and social primary contacts, six had returned negative tests.
On a family of three at the Holiday Inn, it was now believed the transmission of the highly contagious UK strain happened before they arrived in Australia.
Mr Andrews said: “Two members of this family remain in hotel quarantine with our support, and one member of that family has been moved to hospital.
“That person is dealing with some very significant health challenges.”
Mr Andrews said anyone who had spent more than 15 minutes in the Holiday Inn between January 27 and February 9 – workers, residents or visitors – were now considered a primary close contact and needed to isolate for 14 days and get tested.
TRACES DETECTED IN WASTEWATER
Health Minister Martin Foley said traces had been detected in wastewater in several Melbourne locations — Coburg, Reservoir, Glenroy, Broadmeadows and Roxburgh Park.
“We have uncovered a number of unexpected detections, something to which we now know we need to be alert to,” he said.
“If you have been to those areas in 48 hours through to the morning of February 8, monitor symptoms.”
On Tuesday, Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton flagged that a “root and branch” review of the program, handled by Australia’s medical expert panel, would look at how the nation’s quarantine programs could deal with more transmissible variants.
SCHOOLS REOPEN IN SUNBURY
Sunbury schools St Anne’s and Salesian College reopened after a snap closure on Wednesday following concern their communities may have been exposed to a positive case.
Salesian principal Mark Brockhus said he was alerted to two school community members being close contacts of a Holiday Inn case about 9pm on Tuesday and immediately closed the school and began contact tracing.
“We managed to get the message out before midnight,” he said.
“One benefit of the school closure is it afforded the opportunity to go and get tested without missing face-to-face learning.”
Salesian College anticipated up to 20 of its students out of 1400 will have visited exposure sites and would need to be tested and remain home before getting a negative result.
Three teachers who visited the sites and six pupils who shopped at or worked part-time at hot spot shops were isolating on Wednesday.
Mr Brockhus was alerted on Wednesday morning that the contacts to the confirmed case had tested negative.
“It was quite a tense moment there not knowing which way it was going to go,” he said.
“If the secondary contacts had been positive it would have been devastating for our school environment, we would have had most people needing to go and get tested.”
Mr Brockhus said the reintroduction of masks at schools last week “would have reduced the spread to any airborne droplets”.
Also, the school’s ability to switch to online learning meant a campus closure was no longer as problematic as it once was.
“A day off school, while it sounds disruptive, is not what it looks like in reality for us,” he said.
“Students would have had plenty of work to get along with.”
Mr Brockhus said prompt and clear instructions from the Department of Health, and support from the school community to the “safety first approach” had made the ordeal much easier to navigate.
Seven venues in Sunbury were added to the alerts list by the health department late on Tuesday night (see below).
The Department of Health released the latest statewide numbers on Wednesday morning, confirming two cases had been acquired locally in the past 24 hours.
In the same period 22,849 tests were conducted.
There are now 16 active cases in Victoria.
Health Minister Martin Foley on Tuesday revealed a female guest staying at the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport and a food and beverage employee, who had worked on site, had tested positive.
It marks the fifth case of transmission within Victoria’s quarantine hotels in the past fortnight.
Contact tracers interviewed the traveller and believe she did not leave her house after finishing quarantine, except to get a COVID-19 test, and has one primary close contact.
She tested negative multiple times during her hotel stay, left the facility on February 7 and then tested positive two days later.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, a second case emerged in a hotel quarantine worker at the same location.
The employee had the same exposure period as the returned traveller and had been tested due to being a contact of the authorised officer who tested positive on Sunday.
NEW EXPOSURE SITE DETAILS RELEASED
Anyone who visited Off Ya Tree in Taylors Lakes on Saturday, February 6 from 1pm to 1.52pm must immediately isolate, get a COVID-19 test and remain isolated for 14 days.
Sites visited by COVID-positive cases include:
— Glen Waverley: Commonwealth Bank: 1.30pm - 2.30pm on 9/2/2021
— Glen Waverley: HSBC Bank: 2.15pm-3.30pm on 9/2/2021
— Sunbury: PJ’s Pet Warehouse. 3:37pm – 4:10pm on 5/2/2021
—Sunbury: Bakers Delight at Sunbury Square Shopping Centre. 3:40pm – 4:15pm on 5/2/2021
—Sunbury: Al Dente Deli at Sunbury Square Shopping Centre. 3:45pm – 4:23pm on 5/2/2021
—Sunbury: Sushi Sushi at Sunbury Square Shopping Centre. 3:53pm – 4:28pm on 5/2/2021
—Sunbury: Asian Star at Sunbury Square Shopping Centre: 3:57pm – 4:30pm on 5/2/2021
—Sunbury: Sunny Life Massage at Sunbury Square Shopping Centre. 4:30pm – 6:30pm on 6/2/2021
—Sunbury: Cellarbrations, 34 Batman Ave. 6:17pm – 7:02pm on 6/2/2021
—Sunbury: Cellarbrations, 34 Batman Ave. 5:44pm – 6:19pm 7/2/2021
Mr Foley said everyone on that floor at the Holiday Inn was now at greater risk and returned travellers from that floor who had completed their quarantine would now need to isolate for a further 14 days.
“We know this will come as difficult news to those people who have just completed their 14 days … but it is a necessary public health move,” Mr Foley said.
Details of the second new case were slim, with news of the infection coming through minutes before Mr Foley spoke to the media.
HEALTH AUTHORITIES WORK NEW THEORY
Health authorities are working on the theory a family of three quarantining at the hotel may be the source of the outbreak and the two hotel workers picked up the virus without having close contact with them.
One of the family members has been revealed as the person now in ICU.
Prof Sutton said the new, more infectious variants posed a threat across Australia.
“I want a root and branch review like everyone else,” he said. “My understanding is that it is front and centre for discussions among chief health officers in coming days.
“It will be an end-to-end review of all the mitigations that can be put into place, including the testing before somebody leaves their country of origin.”
Prof Sutton said it was unlikely the female guest had contracted a variant of the virus with a longer incubation time.
Instead, investigators believe all the recent Holiday Inn cases are linked, and the woman was exposed to the virus just before being tested as she left quarantine, meaning the virus could not be detected until days later.
“The focus of our attention is on transmission that might have occurred on the relevant floor where positive cases were known to be,” Prof Sutton said.
Australia’s medical expert panel — the AHPPC — will this week review the procedures around hotel quarantine after multiple states recorded cases of the mutated strains from South Africa and the UK.
Federal chief medical officer Paul Kelly has asked the NSW Health team to provide the national body with a report into the state’s day-16 testing scheme before the panel advises the federal government on what should change.
“We’ve seen some cases of the variants of concerns in several states now relating to hotel quarantine,” Prof Kelly said.
“Last week at national cabinet there was a specific discussion about improving the quality of our already very high standard hotel quarantine. Can it be improved? Of course.”
Melbourne University epidemiologist Tony Blakely said the quarantine system needed an urgent overhaul to place as many arrivals as possible in regional areas, as well as vaccinating all workers and improving hotels for cases that must stay in the CBD.
“We do have a problem, and the problem arises because we have more people arriving in the country who are infected, and they are coming in with more infectious variants. And we have a system that does not appear to be coping,” he said.
Because most new COVID-19 cases arriving in Australia are now carrying the more infectious strains, Ivo Mueller of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute believes there is a greater chance of spread within quarantine.
With greater testing of guests also identifying asymptomatic cases which may have been missed last year, Prof Mueller believes the increase in cases is no cause for alarm — provided the system continues to evolve.
“It is great that we are trying to reduce the amount of spreading in hotel quarantine, we are going to continue seeing occasional cases that are transmitted in that system because no system is perfect and the virus is highly infectious,” Prof Mueller said. Early detection of such cases meant “we should not be panicking”.
Victoria recorded no new cases of community transmission in the previous 24 hours, after 12,816 tests.
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